Freak Show at the Carnival
by ArlkatThePillowfighter
Summary: John and Dave end up going on a... date? Something like that, with a name amidst the platonic hand-holding and 'no homo's. Meanwhile, Karkat has a little trouble with Gamzee and the 'Dark Carnival'... ((The picture is Gamzee's outfit for Chapter 2 and beyond. I really like it.))
1. Chapter 1

**This story, or rather combination of two stories, came from the title. I originally wanted to do a GamDave fanfic, but that seemed kinda weird after a while so I turned it into two separate stories taking place at the same time in the same place. Hope you like it!**

**(I might just incorporate a third story to explain what the other characters are doing…)**

**~Dave~**

You sigh as you hang up the phone. You can't exactly say no and leave John hanging like this, but hell, this is starting to sound more and more like a date no matter how many 'no homo's and 'totally platonic's you throw in there. It's not the concept of going on a date with John that's starting to freak you out, it's the way it makes your heart flutter and your words stutter.

Okay, Dave, calm down. You're rhyming again.

You take a deep breath, slipping the phone into your pocket. Christ, that kid's about the only one who can melt your facade like a sheet of ice. You'd told him you had to think about it, but you're sure he heard the desperate screeching going on inside your head. It's literally all you can do not to call him back immediately and say yes.

Although as you think about it you realize your hand hasn't left your phone this entire time and you're already on the verge of doing so anyways.

He's probably waiting for you to do it.

You curse to yourself and whip out your phone, of course he takes precedence on your speed dial over 911, and hold your breath. He picks up on the first ring. You were right.

"Oh, hey, make up your mind already?"

"Figured I've got nothing better to do." You hear the lie in your own voice, it's that obvious.

"Cool!" You can tell he's grinning like an idiot. "I'll be over at… seven?"

"You could come over now if you wanted. The Strider house is always open to cute raven haired boys." Damn it, Dave…

You swear you can hear him blush. "Seven it is then. See you then!"

He hangs up abruptly, like he always does when he's nervous.

Shoving the phone into your pocket, you shake your head. Fuck.

You hear a chuckle, and realize Bro was standing right there for your entire conversation. "You do realize making him uncomfortable isn't going to rope him in, right?"

"Shut up."

You glance at the clock. It's only five. You both can't wait two hours and wish they would never pass at the same time.

As you swap between eagerness and dread, the passage of time does also. It drags on forever at some moments, and then suddenly fifteen minutes are gone in the blink of an eye. You swear some time gods are fucking with you.

When _finally_ the clock turns to 6:55 - oh, shit - you stride to the bathroom, slipping on the shades you'd been too worked up to wear. They were the ones John had gotten you for your birthday a couple years back, because he thought your old ones made you seem more intimidating, like your Bro. You didn't think so, and you even had the others in your safe box in your room, but if John liked them…

In a fit of panic you had dressed almost exactly like you had when you and John had first actually, physically met - white shirt with red sleeves and the Retro Vinyl logo, black flare jeans, and red converse. You didn't even realize it until now, but it makes you look younger.

You don't even have time to contemplate changing clothes as the doorbell rings, scaring the crap out of you. Why the actual fuck are you so nervous?! It's just John, for fuck's sake! Why are you blushing so much?

You groan, making your way to the door and swinging it open. John seemed to have the exact same problem, and probably the same thought process as well - he was dressed in a blue plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up halfway over a plain black tee shirt and blue jeans. They way he used to dress before he was overcome with his nerdy obsessions. The way he knew you liked.

Okay, this is already awkward. He just got here and you're already both blushing like crazy.

"Hey, man."

"Yeah, hi…"

"You gonna come in or are we leaving now?"

He shrugs, looking off to the side. "Either or."

You sigh, grabbing his arm and pulling him inside as you shut the door. "We need to work on your decision-making skills."

His blush worsens as you take his arm, automatically pulling it out of your grip. "No, we need to work on your personal-space-respecting skills." He snaps, placing his other hand over the spot where yours was.

There's definitely something wrong with him. "Dude. You're acting weird."

"I am not acting weird!"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong!"

You shrug, raising your eyebrows in a bit of confusion, but you let it go.

He seems to notice what you're wearing, and his eyes widen just a bit before he looks off to the side.

"Are we going to leave tonight?" He asks, still sharply but quieter than before.

"Let's go."

He opens the door, immediately dashing outside where it's already dark and his blush isn't as noticeable. You follow, closing it behind you and catching up with him.

It's a short walk to the carnival from your house, and you both decided it would be easier not to have a parental (or brotherly) figure to drop you off.

You walk in silence for a while, and after what was probably a lengthy debate in his head he reaches over and takes your hand in his, staring straight ahead. Your heart flutters again, and you feel your stomach flip-flop as you contemplate what this means. Sure, you'd held hands before, but this feels… different. You can feel the cold November air on your now warm cheeks as you tighten your fingers in his.

You don't speak, afraid that if you do it will break whatever this moment this is. You'd probably just spout some rhyming bullshit, anyways.

Once you get there, not a single word having been said since your house, you look up. It's dark enough that they turned on the lights already, and it's actually really beautiful in your mind. John mumbles something about the gradient of the blueness in the sky, and you notice he's smiling that bucktoothed smile that always takes your breath away. You look down, smiling a bit yourself. He doesn't catch it.


	2. Chapter 2

**I just wanna say shit gets real in this chapter. But with the Dark Carnival mentioned in the description, you knew this was going to happen sooner or later.**

**I chose sooner. :o) honk.**

**~Karkat~**

You sigh. Once again, your moirail has dragged you off to see a carnival. He loves those damn things, doesn't he? Although you have to admit, he's been acting weird lately.

When you saw the ridiculous getup he insisted on wearing, ((Link in description :D)) you couldn't help but facepalm. "You are not wearing that." You'd growled.

But, as always, he persuaded you to let him wear it.

Now, as you sit with cotton candy melting on your tongue and still a good clawful of tickets in your pocket, you realize it's getting dark. Where is Gamzee, anyways? He said he'd be right back. Which was weird for him - he rarely announced he was leaving. You shove the paper cone in your mouth, chewing it quickly as you stand up. You check your watch. It's been almost three Earth hours since he left. Where had he said he was going?

Fuck. You don't remember.

Something about… a special treat? And miracles… the usual Gamzee crap-spouting.

You start to get worried. What if he's hurt?

You take off in the direction in which he disappeared.

You come to a large warehouse, pitch black inside but filled with a maniacal laughter one can only associate with the insane. The moment you stick your head inside the rusty smell of blood assaults you, human and troll mixed. A familiar yet foreign voice booms throughout the dark, empty space.

"...Honk. HONK."

You start to freak out a bit. You hope he's not hurt. "Gamzee! Fuck, there you are. You had me worried there, dude…"

"Honk."

"Uh… yeah. Where have you been, anyway? You just kinda wandered off."

"HONK. honk. HONK."

"Yeah, I get it, wise guy. You're a fucking clown, who cares. Quit your bullshit partyclown antics and get your ass over here. It could be dangerous here - smells like shit has hit the whirling device and somebody got hurt."

"Shut up."

You pause. "What…"

"I SAID SHUT THE MOTHERFUCK UP, MOTHERFUCKER. Honk honk honk." He gives a chuckle.

"Dude, are you okay? You're really starting to weird me out."

Your eyes adjust a bit, and you see his form in the back corner of the shed. He throws back his head and laughs, a sound that sends a shiver down your spine. He stops abruptly, answering your question instead. "Uh, yeah… I GUESS I'M ALL MOTHERFUCKING WEIRDING OUT AT SOME EXTENT TO MY OWN MOTHERFUCKING SELF. But it's all good, I'm chill with it."

You can see his wide white grin, and you start to put it together. No wonder he had been acting oddly. "Oh, god. No, no, no, please don't tell me you went crazy. I don't need that on top of everything else in my life."

He chuckles, and you flinch. "Seriously, come with me and have a slime pie or something to relax."

"SLIME?" He bellows. "There is no more slime, brother. AND ANYWAY. Shit was motherfuckin poison, didn't you know?"

You take a step back. "Uh… no? I mean, I would never eat it, but-"

He interrupts you loudly. "THEN GET MOTHERFUCKIN SCHOOLFED ABOUT ALL THE WICKED NEWS, PUNCHLINE BLOODED MOTHERFUCKER."

You become confused. He'd never brought up your blood. He continues, and you hear him stand up. "It rots you. RUSTS YOUR MOTHERFUCKIN THINK PAN. And the floor all stares back at you through the motherfuckin hole. BUT THERE IS NO HOLE NOW. Only under-motherfuckin-standing of who all I was made out to be all along." You can hear his muffled footsteps, slow and dragging as if you were in some horror movie. "ONLY. UNDER-MOTHERFUCKIN-STANDING. OF WHO I WAS MADE OUT TO MOTHERFUCKIN BE. ALL A-MOTHERFUCKIN-LONG."

"Oh, my god…" You hear yourself whimper. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no…"

You see his eyes reflecting the dim light. "I've been kicking the wicked ignorance on this shit. BEEN MOTHERFUCKING SLAUGHTERING THE WICKED IGNORANCE, BRO. All up in lifelong denial of my calling. AS A DESCENDENT OF THE HIGH MOTHERFUCKIN SUBJUGGLATORS." He takes another couple of steps forward. "We are higher than you, brother. WE ARE HIGHER THAN MOTHERFUCKIN EVERYBODY." Step. "Honk."

You can't seem to move. "Gamzee. Please. No."

"And now I'm the last one, so I finally motherfuckin understand. I FINALLY GOT MY MOTHERFUCKING UNDERSTAND ON TO WHO THE MIRTHFUL MESSIAHS ARE." His face contorts into a fierce grin, showing off his compliment of razor-sharp canines. "They were always both me." His grin flips into a terrifying snarl. "AND ALSO MOTHERFUCKING ME." He steps closer. You catch the whiff of blood again and see dark and bright stains on his close. You feel like vomiting, but you can't bring yourself to look away. "And now. AND MOTHERFUCKING NOW. I am going to motherfuckin kill all you motherfuckers."

"Oh god, oh man, oh god…" You are on the verge of pissing your pants here. This is genuinely terrifying, not to mention horrifying to see your best friend turned into this.

"I AM GOING TO MOTHERFUCKING KILL ALL YOU MOTHERFUCKERS." He repeats, stepping closer. "And paint the wicked pictures with your motherfuckin blood." Step. "FROM YOUR VEINS WILL DRIP MY MIRACLES." Step. "Your crushed bones will make my special stardust." He's right in front of you now. He towers over you with his sickening grin, and you still can't move. His claws curl around some sort of rope. "WELCOME TO THE DARK CARNIVAL, BROTHER." It's his loud scary whatever-the-hell voice, but in a quiet hiss. It's somehow more menacing. He pulls on the rope, and the lights come on. He steps to the side, bellowing out a honk that's almost a scream, and you see something even more terrifying than your carnival-clad, blood-covered friend.

A body-clad, blood-painted room.

Numerous corpses litter the floor, all of different blood castes. If it was made of any other substance the paintings would be beautiful, swirling shapes and colors not unlike Troll Van Gogh. But you can barely hold back a scream as you fall to your knees.

"G-Gamzee… Please, tell me you didn't do this…"

He pauses, and you look up hopefully.

He grins. "Of course I motherfuckin did this. WHO BUT THE MESSIAH TO REVEAL THESE… miraculous wonders?"

Your stomach drops as he looks around. You notice a distinct lack of candy-red blood, although in substitute he must have used human blood. Unfortunately, as you think he's realizing right along with you, human blood is of the wrong consistency for… 'painting'.

You can't look away from him. You stand up, and he looks right back at you.

"Karkat, it looks like I'm gonna need your help."

"Oh, god, no. No. This is not happening."

"I NEED YOUR MOTHERFUCKING HELP."

You back up a step, but it's only making it worse. He's herding you away from the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**~Dave~**

It's getting harder and harder to keep your smiles in check - John's always had that effect on you. It feels a lot like that first day - well, night.

You'd ended up meeting at the movies the night before you were planning to, and much to your embarrassment you'd ended up hitting on him. It gets worse, bear with me - the both of you left without knowing it was the other. And then you met up the next day. John laughed it off in that certain way you now knew meant he was flipping his shit, but that was nothing compared to the way you freaked the fuck out. Inside, of course, but still.

John nudges you out of your recollection with a squeeze to your hand - he's seen your dopey grin that you quickly correct. You haven't let go of each other's hand - neither of you wants to address that fact.

"What's got you so happy?"

"The first time we met."

He blushed a little bit initially, just at the answer itself, but then as he remembered exactly what had gone on he flushed hard. You're pretty sure he'd said no because he was meeting you the next day. Maybe it was because he harbored the same kind of feelings for you.

. . .

No. You don't think so.

Still, even as friends, it was nice to be out here in such a cool place with John.

"And just being here with you." You add after a few minutes.

His blush returns a bit but he smiles, and as if it doesn't understand exactly how cheesy it is to do so, your heart most definitely skips a beat.

You're sure he would leave right now if he could see what was going on in your head.

_He doesn't feel that way, idiot._ You chide yourself, and stupidly you can feel your smile slip a bit. He doesn't seem to notice, or if he does he doesn't do anything about it.

"I… really like being with you, too."

It takes you a second to realize he didn't specify 'here'. You smile wider.

You can't imagine what he's thinking as the two of you walk. He keeps looking around, anywhere but at you, and when he does he just kinda blushes and looks down. Not that you aren't doing the exact same thing. You're not sure if he's thinking what you're thinking, though. Maybe he's weirded out by what he _thinks_ you're thinking-

Jesus, Dave, overthink much?

You can't help but laugh at your stupid paranoia. If he had anything close to your thought process, he'd already know why you're jumpier than a squirrel on a pogo stick and an electric floor or something like that.

You come to a stop in front of your apparent subconscious destination: the ferris wheel.

He stops with you, and looks up. He doesn't look like he has any objection to being alone in a small space in the dark with you. You really shouldn't either, after all, you'd done things like this a million times before.

_Why in the hell are you so amped?!_ You ask yourself, for like the bazillionth time this night.

You don't have time to reconsider as he pulls you on, still holding your hand as you sit next to him. You're starting to get a little lightheaded, and you're not sure why.

It's silent between the two of you for a couple minutes, and the only thing you can hear is your own racing heartbeat. He leans on your shoulder, and if it's possible you're blushing more.

You swear to god somewhere in the darkness a doppelganger took control of you or something and that's the only reason the words ever came out of your mouth instead of staying safely tucked away inside your head.

"I love you."

_Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck._

He freezes completely, and you hear his jaw drop. He blushes furiously and makes weird little noises like he's either trying to figure out what to say… or he's completely broken.

Your thoughts are a jumble of fear, insults directed at yourself, a bit of relief, and basically more fear. You're trapped with the one person in the world that could hurt you the worst right now.

You try to pull your hand away, but he doesn't let you.

Your heart trembles with hope, and you try to get it to shut up. You're more or less now just willing him to get it over with, because the suspense hurts. A lot.

You're just starting to feel guilty, to resent whatever compelled you to open your mouth, when he chuckles and rests his head on your shoulder again. It thoroughly confuses you,

"Jo- Egbert, what are you…"

"You can call me John, you know. And…" He pauses for a minute, blushing badly in the moonlight. "I-I guess you could say… I love you, too."

He looks up at you with those perfect blue eyes of his, and your heart stops for a few moments with the overflow of emotions. You grin, and look down at him even though you can't see very well.

_I wear my sunglasses at night…_

A single, barked laugh escapes you. You pull them off simply to look into those deep blue eyes, and do so. He gasps, eyes widening. The ferris wheel stops. He looks scared or something. You realize your mistake.

You don't think. You just run, purely on instinct. Things go through your head things you don't want to think about, things from your past. You don't know where you're going, but you find a dark place to sit and hate yourself. You just imagined him saying he loved you back. You've probably just screwed up your friendship beyond recognition.

Maybe you should let it go.

It's not like you have any other friends anymore.

Then what're you gonna do?

. . .

Your thoughts flick to the knife in your pocket.


	4. Chapter 4

**~John~**

You start to panic. You call after him, but he's already gone.

Something must be messing with your head.

You start walking, trying to remember anything you might have done wrong. But all you can think of was how his beautiful eyes shone in the moonlight.

You'd never imagined they'd be red.

Thinking about him, your heart is filled with a fierce, protective determination.

You walk faster.

You aren't really sure where he went, maybe he didn't go anywhere in particular.

He just wanted to get away from you.

You still aren't sure why he left, but you care about him. A lot. And nothing is going to get in the way of that.

Nothing.

**~Karkat~**

"Gamzee, please… Don't do this…"

"Sacrifices gotta be motherfuckin made, brother."

You're backed into a corner. You see no options.

And all of a sudden you can't think of anything else. The one thing you've always wanted to do before your time came.

He looks down at you, and you just- you just do it.

You grab his collar, pull him down, and you just fucking kiss him.

It works. He's thoroughly stunned.

You run.

You run, and the bitter red tears stream down your face as you do so.

He tasted horribly like blood.

**~Dave~**

You can't bring yourself to do it.

You have the fucking knife, it's in your hand, and you aren't even wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

But you can't see. You can't fucking see because you're fucking _crying_ and you feel like your life is over.

But it's not.

Because you're too much of a goddamned _coward_ to do it yourself.

You're a fucking _coward_. You're going to go home, cry in your room for a few hours, drink a shitload of aj, and get over John tomorrow morning.

He's just a guy.

A guy that's been your best friend for years.

A guy who's seen your eyes.

A guy you can't live without.

A guy you're in love with.

Just a guy.

**~Karkat~**

You can't let him kill anyone else.

But you can't bear to go back.

You might be a coward. You don't care.

You might hate yourself for the rest of your pathetic excuse for a life.

But that nookwhiff isn't going to have your blood.

You run around a corner -

- And straight into Gamzee.

He looks thoroughly stunned still, looking down at you with the oddest expression. His eyes have lost their insane, murderous light, but he's still covered in blood.

"Karbro… You never let me respond to your little… argument, there." He says quietly. He sounds like his old self, except with a new edge to his voice.

"That was a motherfuckin DANGEROUS THING TO DO."

You flinch.

He picks you up, under your arms, like you used to do a couple sweeps ago.

And he kisses you.

You're still crying. You can feel it. You're still absolutely terrified of him and mortified at what he's become. What he's done.

But you kiss him back.

You're pretty much the worst moirail ever at this point.

**~John~**

You find him in a dark, empty space created by a few trailers His penknife glitters a few feet away, probably thrown at the trailer opposite himself. He doesn't notice you at first, he's too busy being curled up in a ball crying to himself.

If it were any other guy, you'd be one of the ones laughing and calling him out.

But this is Dave. You're tempted to start crying yourself seeing him hurt like this.

You kneel beside him, and he looks up at you. His voice cracks with pain. "You've al-already seen them, okay? Just- just go!"

"Why would I leave you like this? You don't want me to go… do you?"

He bares his teeth. "Yeah, I know you don't want to go. Your type never leaves the _freak_ boy alone, do you?"

You reel at the bitter emphasis on 'freak'. He couldn't possibly think that about himself, could he?

You can't hold back the tears any longer. You hug him fiercely, almost tempted to try to shake the thought from him entirely. "You're _not_ a freak!" You practically shout, not letting go.

"People aren't supposed to have red eyes, John. That's… That's what animals have."

"Yeah, well, you're not an animal. You're my Dave."

"John-"

You cut him off, clamping a hand over his mouth and turning his head to face you. You force him to look at you, to look into your eyes,

"Dave Strider." You pronounce his name slowly. "You are not a freak. Don't you dare think for even one second that you are not completely perfect just the way you are. You're the boy I've grown up with for a long time now." You pause, make sure he's paying attention. "Your eyes just make you more beautiful. They're a part of _you_, and part of your essence. You wouldn't be Dave Strider without those eyes of yours, do you understand? I love you. I love you, and I don't want you to change. I don't want you to think something so stupid about yourself, okay?"

You let go of his face, and take your hand off his mouth, but still he stares at you with a perplexed expression.

"You look confused. What part of that wasn't clear?"

"You… You really do love me?"

"Of course." You break into a smile, the one that always makes him smile back. His eyes widen, and he doesn't disappoint.

You take this opportunity to do something you've wanted to do for a while now, and that you intended to do about twenty minutes ago.

You, of the both of you, _you_ kiss _him_, the one thing neither of you expected.

**This is probs the end i dunnnooooooo *shrugs***


	5. Chapter 5

**Yeah, yeah, because of my weird moirail I've written another chapter. But I think this is the end - I apparently have an erisol fanfic and a kankri fanfic to write. . Even though this is the cutest thing EVER. 030 ermahgerd.**

**~Dave~**

Long story short, once you bring John home, Bro obviously knows exactly what happened. He smirks before disappearing, leaving you and John alone, together, watching the original 1985 _Teen Wolf_ movie with Michael J. Fox.

The lights are off, it's nice and dark, and John's all cuddled into your side with your arm around him. He watches the movie most of the time, occasionally looking up at you. Whenever he does, you smile, leaning down to kiss his cheek.

About halfway through the movie, he sits up a bit, taking your shades and putting them on the coffee table. he does the same with his own glasses, and you barely have time to be puzzled before he's all over you. He throws his leg over your lap, straddling your waist and taking your hands in his, threading your fingers together and holding you against the couch as he kisses you. This is only the second time you've really _kissed _kissed, but it already feels natural to you. What doesn't feel natural is the eager way he does it, like he can't wait to get you into the bed. He's not blushing enough for that.

But, hey, all this is going on in the back of your head while the rest of you is currently engaged in sloppy makeouts. You honestly don't care about that anymore, you care about the way he moans all soft under your touch and the flashes of cold you get from touching his warm skin like this and the fact that you're waking up and god damn it.

**I was gonna write more but this seems like a good place to end it MUAHAHA but no seriously I was done with this story a week ago and only wrote this for Aash :P**

**I know I' working on a bunch of other stuff but suggestions and criticism are GREATLY appreciated!**


	6. I FIGURED OUT WHAT I'M DOING :D

**EDIT: **

readwritebeawesome: The GamKar could be a Vampirestuck with Gamzee being a vampire and Karkat being a vampire hunter who's supposed to kill him but that obviously doesn't happen.

broadwaykarkat69: YOU SHOULD DO BLOODSWAP GAMKAR :D AND TROLL DAVE/JOHN.

Blueyay: Why not petstuck gamkar with JohnDave adopting them?

I have taken all of these and taken them into account… I have come up with three options. Vote for the ones you want (ON MY HOMEPAGE):

Vampirestuck: John and Jake are a pair of Vampire Hunters, and Gamzee ends up as John's apprentice. Dirk, Dave and Karkat are Vampires, with Karkat being Dave's apprentice. Dirk is kind of the one who keeps them all in check and everything, but when Jake comes into the picture unknowingly, everything gets fucked up.

Messing w/ the Ectobiology Machine: John fucks up the machine, and they're all stuck in some different form. John is a blueblooded troll, Dave is a candy-red blooded troll, Karkat and Gamzee end up bloodswapped.

Petstuck: Gamzee is goat-type and Karkat is cat-type (because dave and john would not adopt a fricking crab). John and Dave adopt them as like kids or something because the adoption center thinks they're weird or something for being FABULOUS.


End file.
